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<title>The Stars Map the Way by AvengersCompound (emilyevanston)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24037336">The Stars Map the Way</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound'>AvengersCompound (emilyevanston)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner Bingo 2019, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Wedding Fluff, Weddings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:34:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24037336</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s your wedding day and Bruce has aligned the stars to guide you to him.</p><p><b>@brucebannerbingo Square:</b>  - R2 Crown</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner/Reader, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner Bingo 2019</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Stars Map the Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The reflection looking back at you in the mirror didn’t seem totally real to you.  It was an idealized version.  Something from a fairytale.  You looked like a princess, both beautiful and magical.  You smoothed down the skirt.  The satin and lace glittering with crystals as they shifted in the light.</p><p>Your bridesmaid stepped up beside you and placed your tiara on your head.  It glittered in silver and diamonds and sat on your head so your veil fell down behind it and a small emerald rested in the middle of your forehead that matched the two teardrop-shaped jewels from your ears.</p><p>“You look beautiful,” she said.  “Like a queen.”</p><p>“You think he’ll like it?” You asked.</p><p>She chuckled and gently pinched your cheek.  “I think you could show up in a hessian sack and he’d look at you like you hung the stars in the sky.”</p><p>“So you’re saying I wasted a lot of time and money to make myself look like this?”  You asked.</p><p>She laughed.  “Come on, your prince is waiting for you.  You don’t want him to think you’re not coming.”</p><p>You chuckled softly and nodded.  “No.  That would not end well for anyone.”</p><p>She handed you your bouquet of white rose, eucalyptus leaves, and fern fronds and the two of you went outside to the vintage Rolls Royce that was waiting for you outside.  She helped you in, making sure your skirt didn’t get caught anywhere it shouldn’t and the car made its way through the New York Streets.  The sun was setting and it sent beams of orange light up the streets as the sky above you turned pink.</p><p>It pulled up at the American Museum of Natural History and you climbed the stone steps and went inside.  The halls were mostly empty, only staff members and the occasional stray visitor making their way back out.</p><p>Each staff member you passed directed you to where you were going.  Up the stairs and to the large sphere that housed the planetarium.</p><p>Pepper and Laura were waiting outside with Morgan and Nathaniel.  Morgan wore a white dress with a green sash and held a basket of flower petals, while Nathaniel had a little black suit on and held a green satin pillow with your rings tied to it.</p><p>“Wow, look at you,” Pepper said smiling.  “You look like a princess.”</p><p>“Thank you,” you said.  “I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”</p><p>She laughed and rubbed your arm.  “He’s looking a little green himself.  So you might want to get in there.”</p><p>“Are you ready?”  Laura asked.</p><p>You nodded and the staff opened the door.  You heard the harp start-up and Pepper and Laura ducked inside to take their seats.</p><p>“<em>And I’d give up forever to touch you, ‘cause I know that you feel me somehow, you’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be, and I don’t want to go home right now.</em>”  As words floated out from inside the dome, you sent Morgan inside and she made her way down the aisle, scattering flower petals as she went.</p><p>“<em>And all I can taste is this moment, and all I can breathe is your life, and sooner or later it’s over, I just don’t wanna miss you tonight.</em>”  Nathaniel went in after him, looking up at the ceiling as he half skipped/half jogged his way down the aisle.</p><p>“<em>And I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don’t think that they’d understand, when everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.</em>”  Your bridesmaid went next, walking down the center of the room slowly.  You started to psych yourself up, bringing your bouquet in close to your body and stepping up to the doors.</p><p>“<em>And you can’t fight the tears that ain’t coming or the moment of truth in your lies.  When everything feels like the movies, yeah, you bleed just to know you’re alive.</em>”</p><p>You stepped inside the darkened room.  Above your head, the milky way glittered.  Your guests were seated in a circle around an arch in the middle, a row of small lights on the floor marked the path you needed to walk to reach it.  Standing under the arch was the celebrant, Tony Stark, Thor, and Bruce.  Bruce looked up at where you stood and his face lit up like a fire had ignited inside him.</p><p>The lights above your head changed, a bright, green glow of the Northern Lights curled out, mapping your path to your groom.</p><p>“<em>And I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don’t think that they’d understand, when everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.</em>”</p><p>You began to make your way down the path, every eye on you, but none more excited than Bruce.  He was bouncing where he stood and he held his hands clenched in front of him.</p><p>“<em>And I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don’t think that they’d understand, when everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.</em>”</p><p>You reached the arch and held your hands out to Bruce.  He took them, holding them tight like he was worried you might just float off on him and part of you felt like that wasn’t impossible.</p><p>The celebrant cleared his throat and began to speak, but you couldn’t take your eyes off Bruce.</p><p>“Marriage is but one path that can be taken on a course of human relationship.  No ceremony can create your marriage, no piece of paper can make it work.  Only you can do that through your love for each other and your commitment to creating it.  It takes love and patience, dedication and perseverance, talking, listening, help, support, and believing in each other.  A marriage needs tenderness and laughter, forgiveness and appreciation of each other’s differences, and making the important things matter while letting go of everything else.  All this ceremony can do is allow you both to affirm the choice you have made to stand together as lifemates and partners as you walk your paths together,” he said.  “Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife?”</p><p>Bruce took a deep breath and nodded. “I do.”</p><p>“And do you take this man, to be your wedded husband?”</p><p>You smiled and squeezed his hands.  “I do.”</p><p>“When you walk the roads your lives take you, there are many relationships that are important to help you on your way.  In the spirit of the importance of strong friendships, Natasha Romanoff will be reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières,” the celebrant said.</p><p>Natasha got out of her chair and moved up to the arch.  “<em>Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being 'in love’, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.</em>”</p><p>She smiled at you both and took her seat again and the celebrant spoke again.  “We’ve come to the point of the ceremony where you say your vows to each other.  But before you do that, I ask you to remember that love - which is rooted in trust and acceptance - will be the foundation of your relationship.  No other ties are more tender.  No other vows stronger.  If you are able to, keep your vows here today, not because of any civic law, but out of a desire to love and be loved by another person fully and without limitation.  Please now, read the vows you have written to each other.</p><p>You cleared your throat and looked deep in Bruce’s eyes.  He gave your hands a reassuring squeeze.  “I take you to be my husband, my friend, my partner, and my love.  I promise to be patient with you when you’re in the lab working on one of your passions and forget to come home.  I promise to give you a safe and comfortable place to land when you’ve been on a mission and you’re doubting your place in the world.  I promise to listen to your excited ramblings about your new discoveries, and never once make you think I’m anything less than as excited as you are.  Mostly though, I promise to love you, every part of you, unconditionally and freely from the bottom of my heart.”</p><p>Bruce smiled and leaned in towards you a little.  You pressed your forehead against his and ran your hands up his arm.  “I take you to be my wife,” he said.  “I promise to share with you my excitement and fears of the world and let you share yours with me with safety and without judgment.  I promise to protect you when I can, but respect your choices and accept that I might not always be able to.  I promise to allow you to help carry my fears and burdens and help you carry yours too.  But most of all, I promise to love you, every part of you, unconditionally and freely from the bottom of my heart.”</p><p>“May I have the rings?”  The celebrant said.  Tony took the cushion from Nathaniel and untied them, handing them to the celebrant who then offered them to both you and Bruce.  “Now repeat after me; I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.”</p><p>You and Bruce slid the rings onto each other’s fingers.  “I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.”</p><p>“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!” The celebrant announced.  “You may now kiss each other.”</p><p>Bruce wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close, he leaned in, and you bridged the distance as he dipped you back.  Above you, on the domed screens the sun came out and you kissed for the first time as husband and wife.</p>
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